Here on Out
by angelsixtwofive
Summary: After the fall, Yang has spent most of her time at home. Her sister has gone off on her own adventure. Yang receives a letter telling word of her sister on her way to Mistral. Will Yang go off to follow her sister and bring right to the world? Or will she let her sister take on the world along side only three others? - Three Shot
1. Chapter 1

**Reviews are always helpful :D**

* * *

The fall of Beacon. Something that nobody could have ever predicted.

No one ever expected how such a symbol of hope and peace could become the center of a battlefield.

Dozens are now gone, the flames of the battle extinguished over the course of the night.

Now, months have passed.

And one of the heroes who ended the fighting has vanished.

She has not died. Merely taking on a new adventure.

Finding the ones that caused the fresh pain in her life.

On her journey, she takes friends that also survived the fall.

But as she does this, she leaves behind those closest to her. Family, friends and more.

The hero's sister has been crippled and bedridden up until the last few months.

Here at her homestead on the island of Patch on the coasts of the city of Vale, she feels that she can't do anything.

She is wrong.

* * *

Opening her eyes, Yang stared at the blank ceiling that had been greeting her every day for the past few months.

Shuffling herself, she used her good arm to steady herself and push herself against her pillow, sitting straight up.

She glanced out the window to her right and saw that the sun was already beginning to rise over the horizon.

It was the beginning of the second week in August. Ten months to the day since the fall of Beacon.

Taking her gaze away from the window, Yang glanced across the room and saw the empty bed next to her's.

She moved back into the room last month, wanting something of her sister to be close to her.

Every morning she wants to wake up to find the younger girl snoozing in her bed.

Yang knew that in the time between the fall, and the time that Ruby left, her birthday came and passed. Sixteen years. Now every day that passed, she was getting closer and closer to seventeen.

She couldn't help but think about the fact that it would have been the age that she could have been able to enroll in Beacon, but she had already managed to do that, years in advance.

Looking over to the shelf next to the window by Ruby's own bed, she examined the grimm figures that sat on the top shelf.

One of the beowolves faced directly towards Yang. Staring at the bone structured face of the creature, an image flashed across her mind.

The look of the swordsmen that ended any chance of her continuing the dream of herself becoming a huntress.

Her arm flared with a low burning pain. Looking away from the grimm figure, she looked to the single gauntlet that sat on her nightstand.

Shaking her head, she swung her legs over the side of her bed pushed the covers forward.

Grabbing a second pair of clothes from her drawer, she pressed them to her side with her right bicep.

Opening the door and walking over to the bathroom across the hall, she placed the change of clothes on the counter top.

She shut the door and turned on the shower.

Removing the bandage from her nub, she looked at the bottom of it in the reflection of the mirror. It was almost fully healed, just a few more weeks at this point. Well, as healed as it was going to be.

Slipping off her clothes carefully, she stepped into the shower.

In the shower, she made sure not to let her mind drift off anywhere that she didn't want it to go to. She knew that the shower was one of the places that the mind loved to go wild.

She had struggled with the shampoo and conditioner. She had stopped reaching for things with her right arm months ago, and she was already becoming pretty decent with her left handed writing. It was beginning to stop looking like random scribbles that are poorly drawn by a two year old.

Turning off the water and exiting the shower, she slipped into the second pair of clothes. A pair of long dark gray combat pants with small patches on each leg, on the right being a small cartoon bumblebee, and the other on the left leg being a small red rose in front of a white backdrop. The four colors of her team all being represented as one... even though now they were all separated.

She then slipped on her sports bra, not wanting to deal with trying to clip the back of it together. After that, she slipped on an orange tank top that showed off her stomach.

Walking out of the bathroom, she turned off the lights and shut the door behind her.

Tossing her dirty clothes back into the hamper in her room, she walked downstairs, smelling the breakfast that he dad was making in the kitchen.

As she reached the bottom of the steps, her father turned around and smiled to his daughter.

"Morning, Fireball." He called out to her.

Yang walked over to the island in the center of the kitchen and leaned her one arm down against the corner.

"Mornin', Dad." She greeted back in the usual unenthusiastic voice that she had attained ever since the disaster. "What's cooking?"

"Some bacon and eggs. Take a seat, they'll be ready in a few." Taiyang hadn't been the same since Ruby left either. His voice had been laced with worry since the moment he found the note lying on Ruby's bed. Even though things weren't going well, he tried to keep a positive attitude around Yang and when he went to go teach at Signal.

Yang pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and sat down. After waiting for a short time, Taiyang slipped a plate of bacon and two eggs done sunny side up.

Using only a fork, she quickly devoured the eggs before savoring the strips of crispy bacon.

"Hungry today are we?" Taiyang asked his daughter.

Yang looked at him questionably, and then looked at her plate and saw that she already only had one strip of bacon left, while her dad was only halfway through his second egg.

Yang swallowed the bit of bacon that was in her mouth before she responded. "I guess so."

"That's good." He commented. "You haven't been eating much in the past few months. You need to build your strength back up."

Yang stopped chewing on her last piece of bacon when he said that.

"What for?" she asked.

Taiyang stared at his daughter blankly. "What do you mean 'what for'?" he asked. "You can't let this incident hold you down, Yang. That's not like you."

"But what will I be able to do? There's no way I can take on anything with only one arm. Sure, I can train my body back to where it was before, but what good will I be if I can only throw one punch at a time?" She glared at her dad.

Tai looked to the ground and sighed. "Alright. I won't pry anymore or push you to do anything." He said as he finished his food. He stood up from the table and placed his plate in the sink to be washed later.

"I'm needed at the school today for a meeting about the CCTs. Your Uncle is supposed to be there as well, but he hasn't been heard from in months either. He probably went out and followed your sister to make sure that she stays alright. But knowing him, I doubt he'll do much to help out along the way. Anyway, take it easy today, Fireball. I'll see ya tonight." He said as he gave her a smile and walked out the front door.

Yang sat up from her own seat with the final strip of bacon hanging out of her mouth and placed her own plate in the sink.

She walked over to a door across from the kitchen and opened it. Inside was a staircase that lead down to the basement of the house.

She began to descend the creaky wooden steps and was enveloped in darkness.

Her bare foot made contact with the cold stone floor, and she tugged on the string of the light that hung above her.

The dim light illuminated the room.

In the center of the room, hanging from the ceiling with a stool and table sitting nearby was a punching bag that looked to be torn in multiple places, but not enough for the sand to pour out. In short words, the thing was beaten to hell.

It was obvious that it was Yang's handy work when she was training. Walking over to the sand bag, she stared it down for many moments.

Yang looked at the nub of her right arm and imagined herself giving the sandbag a strong hook. It was always apparent that her right arm had a powerful hit than her left. But ever since she went to Beacon, she had trained her left arm more than the right at times to even them out in power.

Whenever she imagined punching something, she would think about the trouble and strife that she had gone through in the past. But now, it was just too overpowering.

An image of her team flashed across her mind now. Yang closed her eyes, trying to fully remember the picture. One of the pictures that Yang had taken of the four of them was just after the breach of Vale after they stopped the invasion... or so they thought. They were all so happy then.

Moments passed, and Yang reopened her eyes.

The punching bag was now smashed against the wall facing Yang. The leather straps that were attached to the chain that was hanging it from the ceiling were now completely torn, the chain swinging around in circles.

Yang's own left arm was now extended straight out. She could feel her aura coursing through her body, and her hair flaring around her neck.

She lowered her arm and took a deep breath as she began to calm down.

She looked at her arm and sighed. "So you can do that, but you can't heal the other one." she said to her aura, not expecting a response at all.

Turning around to the stairs, she made a mental note to clean that up later. She turned off the light by tugging on the string, and made her way up the steps.

When she closed the door, she saw that the mail was just slipped through the slit in the door. Grabbing the small stack of papers, she placed them all on the table.

When she did, a single letter slipped out of the step and made itself more notable than the others. With it being completely black, and the return address being a single word written in a silver ink.

 _Qrow_

Grabbing the letter, Yang was surprised to get word from her Uncle who also up and vanished.

Yang saw that it was addressed mainly to her.

Yang went to open the letter, but rolled her eyes when she reached to open it with her right arm.

Tearing the letter open carefully with her teeth, she shook the letter out of the envelope.

Inside was a small letter and a news article.

 _Hey, Firecracker._

 _Sorry I haven't been around lately to help ya through this._

 _I've been tailing your sister and friends for the past few months to make sure that they're alright, and figure out just what they hell they're doing._

 _'I know exactly what they're doing." Yang said to herself._

 _But I want you to know, that they're going to be overrun eventually when they bite off more than they can chew. And I don't think I'll be able to do much to stop them from doing so._

 _I know that this might not work, but I think that it would be a lot better to have the rest of her team by her side more than anything. True, she has the others, but I know one of them isn't as experienced, even though he seems to be getting better every day that passes. They'll be run down one of these days._

 _I've attached an article of a local villages paper on the route that were heading, talking about their unofficial hunter team._

 _You'd be proud of the little sprout._

 _I know you know where they're going. So you should give it a try and find your way here too._

 _You just might miss out on all the fun._

 _\- Qrow_

What the hell did that mean?

His letter made no sense!

What was she supposed to do? Talk to Weiss' father to let her come with her, and hunt down Blake?

Both things seemed almost impossible.

Yang looked at the letter again and saw that there was more.

 _PS. I've sent the same article and a similar message to your other two teammates, the emo one being a little harder to find. But you should go to the Schnee girl first. Winter said that she would like to help me out. Weird, I know._

Yang finally looked to the article and was shocked by what she saw.

A tornado of rose petals flying hundreds of feet into the air was one of the images. The image next to that one was of Ruby, Nora, Jaune and Ren all standing together. They had apparently been asked for a photo because they had been passing by the village in the middle of a grimm attack, and they managed to stop most of the grimm before too much damage was done to the village, even though many homes and lives were lost. The ones that were saved still counted. They stated that they had not revealed where they were heading, saying that the couldn't tell. And when they were asked how old they were, they were told "old enough to know what the world is like".

Yang examined the picture of her sister and three friends. They all had obviously... changed. Each one of them now had longer hair. Ruby and Nora's hair now each reached down to their shoulders. Even Ren's own hair had been very long before, with a thin ponytail that had reached down to the middle of his back, now his bangs were now longer than Yang had even seen before. Jaune's hair has stayed the same length, but was badly chopped, as if he had been cutting his hair with the blade of Crocea Mors. He and Ren had a bit of a stubble of a beard forming on their lower chins, Jaune's more noticeable than Ren's, the eastern boy always wanting his face to be a bit more cleaner.

Their faces though was one of the things that truly shocked Yang. They were all showed stone cold determination. As if they were unrelenting in their journey, and had seen more than the average huntsman and huntress in training should have seen.

Ruby's own eyes were half hidden by her hood. The usual smile that had always been on her sister's face, was now a plain straight face. No emotion being shown at all. The same could be said about the rest of them as well.

A knock at the door took Yang's attention away from the article.

She slowly placed the article and letter down on the table and forced her gaze away from the image of her not-so-little sister.

Opening the front door, she was completely taken off guard by who was there on the other side.

Her upperclassman, and second year huntress in training Coco Adel was there with her arms crossed.

"Coco!?" Yang asked.

Suddenly, the older girl pushed the blonde haired girl back and made her way into the house, shutting the door behind her.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Coco asked

"I should be asking the same thing to you." Yang said, her eyes gaining the blood red tint.

"I'm here to get you off of your lazy and depressed ass, and have you join with your sister." Coco stated.

"Why should I? Just to go out and get my other arm sliced off?"

"Now _that_ is one of the reason's why you should go. You need to redeem yourself for the foolish mistake that you made."

"Foolish mistake?" Yang asked, the statement surprising her.

"Don't act like we don't know. When Blake came around with you over her shoulder and unconscious, she explained everything to us. How you charged a swordsman without even thinking out of the pure rage of you seeing Blake hurt." Coco took off her shades, staring deeply and unnervingly into Yang's rage filled eyes.

"What, did my uncle send you or something?" Yang asked accusingly. "How much is he paying you for this?"

Coco looked confused. "What the hell are you talking about? Your uncle? You mean Professor Qrow?"

"Yes! Did he pay you to come and make me go after Ruby?"

"Why would he do that? I'm here on my own terms."

"Bullshit."

"Yang." Coco looked as if she was pleading for Yang to believe her. "I wasn't sent here by anyone. I came here with my own intentions. What makes you believe that I was?" She asked.

Yang then walked back over to the kitchen table and explained how she had gotten a letter from Qrow, and then showed her the news article of the unofficial Team RNJR.

"Yang, this is all purely timing and coincidence that I came here the same day that that letter from your Uncle arrived. But it's clear that we both have the same mindset. You need to get out there and join your sister."

"You mean her stupid quest for justice that may never come for the people who actually deserve it? What is she going to do when she comes across the people who did all of this? Kill them?"

"I don't know what she has in plan. But if justice is something that she does seek, then that is the exact reason why my team is going out."

Yang's mind stopped at that moment and her anger ceased. "What do you mean?"

"Me and my team have decided that Ruby and the others are right. The kingdoms aren't looking in the right places for the perpetrators of what happened in Vale. But the four of them won't be able to do it alone. So we're going after them and joining them. We may not have always been the closest in terms of friendship and all that heartfelt stuff, save for Velvet, but on the battlefield we were a group that truly worked well together."

Yang sat down on one of the chair at the kitchen table and pressed her hand to her forehead. "Not you guys too." She muttered.

"The world may not be the fairytale that we all want it to be, but we might as well try our damnedest to make it that way for others who can't."

"Then give me one good reason why I should go!" Yang shouted at her.

Coco thought for a moment, collecting her words and picking which ones would be the best to say.

"One of them is because even I can see is that Ruby is hurting, Yang."

"So am I, so ju-"

"I'm not done yet!" Coco shouted. "I know that you are as well, but Ruby was way younger than all of us when this all began. Her own sister almost died, and could have gotten more hurt than she did. Hell, said sister should consider herself lucky to be even alive. Ruby's team has been broken apart. All of them either running from their troubles, or being kept by their own family. She watched a close friend of hers die before her very eyes. And now, the dream school that she had wanted to go to for years was destroyed by Grimm, terroristic faunus, and Atlesian androids. So one thing I feel that would possibly bring her back, is seeing that her sister is fully okay and getting back into the fight. Because both you and I know," Coco held up the image of Ruby in the news article. "that she has been broken, deep down, even if she is trying to hide it to the others."

Yang looked down, her bare feet suddenly becoming fairly interesting. She remembered the days back when she would protect her baby sister from anyone who tried to cause harm, physical or mental.

Now she has gone on her own, leaving her protector behind.

But deep down, Yang knew that Ruby still wanted said protector to be around. To be next to her through all the strife that she's going through.

The world is a big place. But the more people that you have by your side that support you, the smaller it begins to look.

"But what can I do, even if I go?" Yang asked.

"Just because you have one less arm to fight with, doesn't mean you can't fight. You'll just have to adapt to fighting with one arm. Think of it as a sword. One weapon to take on the world."

"But my arm isn't a sword. Sure I'll have my last Ember Celica to hit some things from a range and still amplify my regular punches along with my aura, but the moment someone hits my one good arm, I'm done for the fight."

"That's what your aura is for. And we'll just make sure to have someone close by to you through all engagements. I recommend Yatsu honestly. I think you two can get along well together."

"Thanks. So the full crew is going?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know if anyone else is going to come?"

"We've been trying to convince some of the other teams from other kingdoms such as SSSN, and FNKI, but they've all been recalled back to their schools and they aren't allowed to be involved in any of the international affairs. But they have said that the moment they get a chance, they will try and meet up on the journey."

"Do you even know where they are?" Yang asked.

Coco sighed. "Actually, I was hoping that you would know where they would be." She admitted.

"It so happens I do." Yang then stood from the chair and went up the stairs, moments later she returned with another letter in her hands.

"About a month after Ruby left, she sent me a letter with the exact route that she and the others had mapped out and are taking. She told me that I was the only one who got the letter. The reasoning behind that is she didn't know where to send it for Weiss, or Blake, not knowing where Weiss' exact address with, and Blake being... Blake."

"So you might know where she is?" Coco asked.

"With the help of this article, I can possibly pinpoint their exact location or hopefully just arrive at their next checkpoint before them."

"Well, when is the article dated?"

Yang examined the article for a few moments. "It says the article was from at least a week ago. Which means they couldn't have gotten too far since this incident happened."

"You seem ready to help out now." Coco commented.

"I'm doing this because you're right, not because I want to. Eventually, I may find myself reluctant or thankful to go. We'll see if that happens on the road to the objective."

"So, what do you want to do about your other teammates?" Coco asked, veering away from the topic.

Yang stopped her eyes from looking over the map. "What do you mean?"

"Weiss and Blake. What do you plan to do about them? I'm sure you want to get them to go along as well."

Yang sighed. "Well, at the moment. I don't think either of them could come. Weiss is with her father in Atlas, and Blake ran off after you all got to Vale."

"She hasn't contacted any of you."

Yang shook her head, her face holding an expression that didn't look sure whether to be sad or angry.

"Well what about Schnee. From what I saw from that letter, it sounds like your Uncle is recommending that you go to her. It seems that her sister will help you out in some way."

Yang looked at the map of Ruby's plan. Yang would need to go very far north when the plan was for them to go east to Mistral.

"You look like you're planning something." Coco commented.

"If I can convince Weiss' father to let her come with us, however the hell I will manage to do that, I'll try and figure something out." She said, pressing her hand to her forehead. "I could then ask for a lift to your position, wherever you are."

"But how would we do that? Without the CCTs, there no long range communications on the scrolls so we can't get a pick up without an exact location."

Yang pondered over the question for a moment. "I'll ask them for a ride on a bullhead. Even if I can't convince Mr. Schnee to let Weiss come with, I'm sure he can arrange a bullhead to get me as far away as possible in the shortest amount of time."

"I guess. But what do me and my team do in the time that you're trying to get Weiss."

Yang shrugged. "I'd say just stick to somewhere on Patch. That'll be the easiest thing. The range of the scrolls are about the size of the island, so the short range communications should be enough to communicate with when I make my return."

"And how will you get to Atlas, let alone the home of the owner of the SDC?"

Yang walked over to a key hook, and spun around a pair of keys around her index finger. "I get on a boat and travel across the sea to the island, then drive my bike."

"So you're going to leave your bike at Weiss' place?" Yang's face fell at the thought of that.

"Oh."

"No, she won't." Yang and Coco turned in surprise when Taiyang raised notice to his being there.

"Dad, when did you get here?" Yang asked in surprise.

"I saw your friend on the road, and when I was walking, we walked past each other. As I continued, I got curious as to why she was going towards the house. So I decided to turn back and see what was going on."

"How much did you hear?" Coco asked.

"Just about everything starting at the point where you explained why she should go and join with her sister."

"And now I'm guessing that you're going to stop her from going?" Coco asked.

Taiyang hefted a deep sigh. "That is what I should be doing. But, Ms. Adel, yes, I know who you are, I fully agree that you are right. Yang needs to be by her sister's side for support if nothing else. And she'll get to the boat through me. I'll drop her off and I'll have a contact in Atlas pick her up. The guy owes me a favor."

"Are you sure, Dad?" Yang asked.

Taiyang reluctantly smiled at his elder daughter. "Of course, honey. I mean, I've actually wanted you to go out there for a while. I guess I should have just called one of your friends and have them yell at ya." He gave a small laugh at the end.

"I guess that means I should pack a small bag then, huh?"

"Your ammo is in the locker in my office." Taiyang stated.

"I'll meet you outside." Coco said to Yang as she walked out the front door, her scroll in her hand.

Yang walked up the stairs and grabbed two jackets, her light and heavy. Atlas was cold. Along with many other changes that she knew would need along the way.

For the first time in just under a year, Yang slipped Ember Celica on her wrist. The familiar feeling of the padded band on the inside greeted her wrist. She supposed she could somehow manage to fight with only one fist.

She packed up everything that she thought she would need, even retrieving the extra box of ammunition that was in the gun locker. Thinking ahead in time, she even grabbed an extra box of Ruby's standard ammo, some of which she had left behind.

Walking out of her room, Yang stopped in the doorway, her expression not showing any real emotion, still unlike her past stoic self.

She turned and looked at Ruby's bed, still perfectly made since the day she left.

The image of her little sister sleeping in the bed passed through her mind, it was something that she was aiming for. To make sure that Ruby makes it home safe.

Yang made her way down the steps of, and walked out the front door. Outside, Yang spotted Coco and her Dad chatting, when she shut the door, she spotted three other figures making their way up the road.

Velvet, Fox, and Yatsuhashi were making their way up the road, all dressed in their combat attire and ready to go.

Yang's own combat attire had obviously changed. There was not reminiscent of her old outfit, save for the tank top, and her shoes now being a plain pair of white and blue tennis shoes. And then there was her light gray jacket that had the right arm tied up to her elbow. She had a heavy jacket slung over her shoulder.

"Are you ready?" Taiyang asked as she walked over to them and the other three joined them.

"Yeah." Yang said, not sounding too sure of herself.

Taiyang lightly hit her left arm. "Hey. Stop sounding like this isn't something that you've never done before. Don't think that I don't know about your little excursions out to that nightclub, and other places around the city."

Yang's mouth hung open for a few moments before she blushed in embarrassment.

Taiyang then pulled his keys from a pocket on his jacket.

"Now, let's get you to the docks and on the next boat to Atlas."

"What are you guys going to do?" Yang asked Coco and her team.

"Your dad offered your place to us. He said that he had plenty of beds to go around. We really are grateful, Mr. Xiao Long." Coco added.

"He has?" Velvet and Yang asked in unison. Fox and Yatsuhashi, the two more soft spoken members of CFVY just looked surprised.

"By the way, if anyone comes looking for you, I won't say a word." Taiyang added in.

"Who would come looking for them?" Yang asked.

"Our parents?" Velvet suggested.

Yang nodded. "That's fair."

"If I may say, you two should get going. I checked the schedules for you on the way here. The next boat for Atlas leaves in about a half hour."

"It'll take us about ten to get to the dock." Taiyang said as he began to make his way to his car.

Yang turned to Coco, who was standing there with a smug grin spread across her face.

She sighed. "I guess I should say thanks, Coco." Yang said to the older girl.

"No problem." Coco said, extending her hand out for Yang to shake. "I just hope that soon enough, the good old Team RWBY will be standing before me, better than ever."

"With how much practice it seems my sister has been getting, I think we'll be there soon enough." Yang said as she accepted Coco's handshake.

'But before that, I'll need to track down Blake and her cowardly ass.' She then said to herself.

"Admittedly, I didn't think it would be this easy. I was honestly preparing to beat the crap out of you a bit." Coco said.

Suddenly, Yang's grip on Coco's hand increased ten fold.

The other girl seemed unfazed by the increase in pressure.

Coco grinned. "Now that's what I call a handshake."

Yang gave her own wild grin, with a bit of red hidden behind her lilac colored irises.

"Time to start this off... with a Yang."

* * *

 **Welp!**

 **New story!**

 **Another three shot.**

 **This one I will finish. I promise.**

 **Chapter two is already written.**

 **It is a volume 4-ish setting. I guess you can call it a prediction.**

 **Take it as you may.**

 **Shout out to Shadow Nightblade or beta-reading and editing this edition.**

 **Prepare yourselves for the next chapter... whenever I get around to posting it.**

 **I really hope you guys enjoyed!**

 **See ya next time :D**


	2. Chapter 2

Weiss shut her book, another day of studying through as her tutor left the room.

She let out a soft sigh of relief, ready for the day to finally end and for her to be able to relax.

It had been like this for months. Rinse and repeat as everyday was filled with studies, preparation for taking control of the company.

She had been told by her father that when the new year starts, she would be enrolled in Atlas Academy.

Which means she currently had about three weeks to figure out a way to get the hell away from this place and find her way back to her teammates.

She bet that at the moment, most of them were out in the world trying to find the ones that caused the fall of Beacon. Yang was probably still at home. Every time Weiss thought about the blonde brawler's arm, she couldn't help but feel so helpless. She would never know or understand how Yang felt about it. Did she shrug it off and not let it stop her, or did she let it get to her and she's been sitting at home with no reason at all. If that was the point, then there was something more than that keeping her from going out.

Weiss entered her room and placed her book on a small table that sat next to the door. The sun was beginning to set over the horizon, the shattered moon beginning to take it's place high in the sky.

She looked to her bed and spotted an envelope waiting for her to open.

Curious, she calmly approached it and grabbed it. The outside of the envelope had silver ink with her name on it.

She carefully opened the letter and read it.

 _Ice Princess_

 _'That's a new one.'_ Weiss thought angrily.

 _You met me before, I'm Qrow Branwen, Ruby's uncle and the man who whipped your sister's butt in that fight at Beacon_

 _'What the hell does he want?'_ Weiss asked herself bitterly, thinking back to the fight where Qrow antagonized Weiss' elder sister, Winter

 _This letter comes with a news article attached to the back_

 _Ruby and the remainder of JNPR are making headway towards Haven in Mistral_

 _'That's where that dunce has been!? What in the world does she and the others think they're doing?'_

 _She's alright - actually, alright is a hard way to put it_

 _She could use some help is what I'm saying_

 _Look at the article attached and you'll know what I'm talking about_

Weiss removed a paper clip that was attached to it and began to examine it.

There she saw the same tornado of rose petals that towered into the sky.

And the same picture of the now Team RNJR.

 _'She's... using that move in battle now?'_ Weiss asked herself, commenting on the vortex of carnations. Ruby had told her a couple months before the fall that she had wanted to try and get the move down right before the tournament. Though she hadn't been able to perfect it in time and went against using it in battle. _'If she's confident enough to use it against the grimm now, I guess that means she has it well mastered.'_

She then looked back to the picture of RNJR and noticed the distinct changes to her partner.

 _'She's obviously more... womanly than before.'_ Weiss commented. She shook her head to rid her mind of the jealous thoughts that suddenly became prominent. Ruby's hair had obviously grown longer, not by much though, and she must have grown an inch or two since the last time they met. Her treasured cloak was now torn and tattered at the ends, her hood covering half of her face. But from what Weiss noticed, she could see the pain behind her partner's stone expression.

Weiss held up the letter from Professor Qrow and looked at it quizzically. Just how did he suspect her to get out of her home when she had been trying to do that for months now.

She had tried to convince her father to let her try and find her teammates to make sure they were alright.

The last she saw Ruby she was running up the side of the tower at Beacon. Weiss had forced herself to fall back because of the overwhelming number of grimm that were surrounding her. After that, there was the bright light when she reached the airships.

Last she saw of Blake was when she ran from the group of people. She had tried to chase after the faunus, but she was far too fast for Weiss to catch her.

And then there was Yang. She was airlifted to the nearest hospital that wasn't overrun by monsters. Weiss had gone with her and stayed with her. At the hospital, Weiss' father came for her to take her back home to Atlas.

Her father did not care for her teammates one bit, saying that the more that she was around them there was a greater chance of her dying.

There was a knock at the door and Weiss instantly shoved the letter and envelope under one of her many pillows.

"Yes?" she called out.

"Ms. Schnee." the butler called back. "Your father has requested your presence in his study."

Weiss lightly shook her head and sighed. She thought she was done with everything until dinner, after that she would be free for the rest of the day.

"I'll be right there." she replied.

She heard the footsteps of the butler echo away from her room.

She glanced back to the pillow that she shoved the letter under and noticed something.

There was writing on the back of the letter as well.

How could she forget to check the back for any more important details. That was practically a grade school mistake.

She quickly grabbed the letter once more and continued as well.

 _I suppose I should've had this on the front as well_

 _But I sent a similar message to Yang and the faunus girl_

 _Hopefully, Yang should try and come for you before doing anything_

 _I just hope that my words will get through to her_

Weiss' eyes dilated slightly.

 _'Yes! That is something you put on the front! I almost didn't completely read that part!'_ she internally shouted.

She put the thought to the back of her mind and slid the letter under the pillow once more.

Exiting the room, she walked through the many corridors of her large family home. With one final turn, she spotted the door to her father's office.

Stopping herself outside the door, she checked her dress that some people had compared to the scene of a cloudy winter evening. In a good way. She wanted to make sure that there was no spots or wrinkles to be seen in it. If there was someone in the room that her father wanted her to meet, then she needed to look as professional as possible. Though she doubted that there would be anyone there, her father would have told her in advance.

Weiss wrapped her knuckles on the door twice before she heard her father call for her to come in.

She opened the door and entered the room. As soon as she stepped inside, her father stood from behind his desk. His pristine white suit looking as clean as ever. If Weiss would ever have the power to change her father's outward appearance, she would have him shave off that blasted mustache. She felt that he would be taken a bit more serious at times if he didn't have it.

"Weiss. How was your studies today?" he asked, moving around his desk to be just in front of his daughter.

"The same as usual, father." she replied. "Everything is getting easier as the days go by."

"I would only assume them to. I did hire some of the best tutors out there to come and personally prepare you for the Atlas school."

"Of course, father." Weiss replied.

"Well, now that you're here, there is something that I need to inform you about-." he was interrupted by the ringing of the scroll that sat on his desk.

Mr. Schnee sighed in annoyance and held up his index finger to his daughter. "Hold that thought."

He walked back over to his desk and answered the scroll.

"Yes?" he asked.

"Sorry to disturb you sir, but there is a car at the front gates. The driver is one of the professors from the academy and the passenger is a younger girl who is requesting to speak with you and Ms. Weiss." The voice stated.

"And, what of it?" Mr. Schnee responded. People came everyday to propose business to the two of them.

"The girl says that she is close to Ms. Weiss in some way." The guard stated.

Mr. Schnee turned his head towards his daughter questioningly. Weiss raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

"Send a picture of the girl. I have Weiss with me." he ordered.

Seconds later, the image popped up on the screen and Mr. Schnee turned the screen to Weiss.

Weiss lightly gasped as to who the image was of.

"Yang." she said under her breath.

Yang did not look happy. She wasn't sure if it was because Weiss had been held up for the past few months in her home or if it was the pure determination to try and get Weiss out of there to search for Ruby. Whichever it was, she would just be glad to be taken as far away from Atlas as possible.

"Who?" her father asked.

Weiss regained her composure. "An acquaintance. She may have something to tell me in person. Let them through." she said.

"Yes, ma'am." the guard said.

The call ended and Weiss' father looked to her.

"Who is it?" he asked.

"We'll see exactly who they are now when they get here."

* * *

Minutes passed, her father decided to hold the previous conversation that he and Weiss were about to have, thinking that this new event would possibly be more important.

A knocking at the door sounded and the door opened. A butler entered the room.

"Mr. Schnee, Ms. Weiss. This is Ms. Yang Xiao Long."

The butler moved to the side and the blonde haired girl stepped through.

"Xiao Long?" Mr. Schnee asked, realizing just who that named belong to.

"That's me." Yang said. She turned to Weiss. "Long time no see." she said with a half smile.

Weiss' couldn't take her eyes off of the right sleeve of the jacket that was tied up in a knot.

Yang noticed this. "Take a picture. It'll last longer." She said bitterly.

Weiss looked away. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." Yang said. "You couldn't help it."

Weiss wasn't sure if she meant that she couldn't help the staring... or she couldn't help with the situation in which she lost it.

Both cases were true.

Weiss couldn't hold it anymore. She quickly dashed to Yang and wrapped her in a tight embrace.

"I'm so glad to see that you're alright."

Yang was surprised by the sudden closeness of the once cold heiress.

"Guess you warmed up to all of us after all, eh Snow Angel." Yang commented.

Weiss stiffened at the mentioning of the ridiculous nickname.

"And you ruined the moment." Weiss said, pulling away.

Yang smiled at the way that Weiss returned to her usually self.

At the time, Mr. Schnee cleared his throat, making sure that his presence in the room was not forgotten.

"I do understand that this is the first time that you two are seeing each other in quite a while. But Ms. Xiao Long, please let yourself know that both me and Weiss are very busy with certain matters at hand. So if I may ask, what brings you here to my home?"

"To find my sister." Yang stated simply.

Mr. Schnee chuckled and closed his eyes. "I am quite sure that you will not find that joke of a leader in my home."

Within milliseconds, it felt as if the room raised fifty degrees in temperature.

Mr. Schnee looked at Weiss who looked upset at what he had said, but at the same time, frightened.

When he turned to Yang, his heart raised to his throat.

Red eyes bored deeply into his own blue ones. Weren't they purple just a moment ago?

Oh right. He remembered reading in the files that he had received from Beacon about her semblance.

"I'll give you five seconds to choose your next words carefully."

"Yang. Please." Weiss said to her former teammate. She obviously wanted to hear what Yang came all the way out here to say. She didn't want her to be thrown out within the first two minutes.

Yang looked at Weiss and saw the pleading look in the her light blue eyes.

She took a few deep breaths and the temperature in the room decreased, but the red tint in her eyes had yet to disappear.

"Why are you here searching for your sister?" Mr. Schnee asked.

"I know she's not here. I actually know where she's going. But it's the means of getting there is where I need the help."

"Well I'm sure that I can have a bullhead take you to-"

"But if I'm going out to find her, I'm not leaving here without her partner."

Weiss was internally screeching _'GET ME OUT OF HERE!'_ but on the outside was keeping her composure and giving her father a smug smile.

Mr. Schnee laughed once more at Yang's words.

"Surely that will not be happening. She is my daughter and has her own duties here at home to work towards. She can't waste her time by going on a wild goose chase for an AWOL huntress in training, only for herself to be labeled as AWOL as well. And when you do find your sister, what will happen? Will you continue on her, what I can only assume, adventure that she decided to take part in."

"That was the plan. Yes." Yang admitted with a deep breath.

Weiss lightly pressed her hand against her face.

Mr. Schnee laughed even harder. "Now I am definitely not going to let Weiss leave here with you. I would rather my daughter not die for a possibly meaningless cause."

"I wouldn't count on that." Yang replied.

"How so?" He asked.

"Ever since the fall of the CCT at Beacon, the communication between the branches of the SDC has surely been cut off, or slowed, and has forced you to resort to using messengers through bullhead. Am I correct?"

"Of course. With one of the CCT's gone, the others are essentially useless until we regain control at Beacon."

"What if I told you my sister knows who was responsible for the fall of Beacon."

Mr. Schnee lost his amused smile and raised an eyebrow.

"We know what happened. The White Fang led the Grimm into the city and took control of the Atlas androids."

"That's only half true." Yang mentioned.

"What do you mean?"

"The fall of Beacon was, in terms, an inside job. Mercenaries not affiliated with the White Fang infiltrated the campus under the alias of a team of Haven students and then hacked into the CCT to then take control of the Atlas ships through the computer networks. Everything shouldn't have been connected to everything. That is one of the reasons the fall was too easy for them."

"Do you know who the fake students were?" Mr. Schnee asked.

"Yes, actually I do." Yang pulled out a sheet of paper from a pocket in her pants. "Months ago, when I was still recovering from the loss of my arm and about a month after my sister left on her little expedition, she sent me something containing a letter and a map of the route that she, and three other Beacon students, are taking to Haven. Based on an article that I received from my uncle and some estimation, she should be at the Haven limits within the next month or two. With that letter, she told me the names. Their names were Mercury Black, Emerald Sustrai, Neo, no last name mentioned, and Cinder Fall, who was the ring leader and murderer of Pyrrha Nikos, the Mistral regional champion and teammate of the three people that are now traveling with Ruby. Since then, the team of fake students vanished. The current best bet that they say they have right now is Haven." Yang informed.

"Why didn't she tell this to anyone!? We could have gone after them months ago!" Mr. Schnee shouted in slight anger and disbelief.

"She was one of the survivors of the fall of Beacon who was battling harder than everyone. She is also, unknowingly to many, the reason why there is still a Wyvern frozen at the top of Beacon tower. A fifteen year old girl who had done so much and could only assume to be going through mental trauma and crazy. Do you really think that any form of media would pay her any attention?"

Mr. Schnee couldn't help but admit that was a valid point. People would realize that the mind of a child is a delicate thing to deal with.

"So, me and another group of students from Beacon will be leaving to cut them off and join up with them. She's on the route of justice for the lives that were taken and destroyed during the fall."

"But there is one thing, Ms. Xiao Long. How will petty revenge bring back the CCT and all the lives that were lost?"

Yang opened her mouth to raise her argument against his question, but nothing would come.

What would happen when the get to Haven? Would they find anything there? What if there was _nothing_ in Haven?

"Father." Weiss said. "If I may interject, I feel that what the point in the mission could be is that this is the best thing to do to try and avoid a war between the kingdoms. Since the disappearance of Professor Ozpin and the fall of Beacon, all of the kingdoms have been pointing fingers at Atlas."

"Yes, Weiss." her father said. "I have been quite in line with the politics over the passing months."

"As have I. But this could very well be a way to try and stop this from happening. The kingdoms are blaming the wrong people and playing right into the hands of the same people that took down Beacon. The moment the fires of war are ignited, they will be considered the victors. In one of the few and rare times, I agree with Yang. The kingdoms won't listen to a group of children, so why not go out and try to bring justice on our own terms with our own power."

Weiss looked at her father with an unwavering stare. She was more serious than she had been in Yang's time knowing her.

"I will not stand for being lectured by my children. Ms. Xiao Long, I believe that you have overstayed your time here in my home. If you still wish, I can have a bullhead take you to the point in which you may reunite with your sister, but Weiss will not be joining you."

"Mr. Schnee, please!"

"Father!"

Another knock sounded at the door.

"WHAT!?" All three people in the room shouted.

"Mr. Schnee, the general has arrived along with Ms. Winter and a scientist from the Atlas Military."

"Ironwood and Winter?" Mr. Schnee said to himself. "What are they doing here?"

Yang knew exactly what they were doing here.

The door opened and the three figures stepped through.

Yang had met the general and Weiss' sister before. But the third person was a new face to her. He had a medium height and a rotund figure. The top of his head was balding, but the back was grown out in puffy white hair, indicating the age of the man. A bushy mustache and beard combo covered his lower face and two large bushy eyebrow sat just above his brown eyes.

"General Ironwood, Winter, Dr. Geppetto. I did not expect you to be here. What is the occasion?" Mr. Schnee asked.

"We came to discuss certain matters on the account of the other kingdoms, but it appears you already have a guest. Ms. Xiao Long, why are you here?" The general stated.

At that moment, Yang began to explain the entire journey from the fall of Beacon to the point of where they are now. She made sure to throw in extra details such as team CFVY also coming along with them. Then she explained how Ruby had gone out with the remainder of Team JNPR to track down the ones responsible.

"So what you're telling me is that Ms. Rose has gone out on her own excursion in the pursuit of justice in stead of the one's who would not listen to her, meaning the kingdoms."

"That's the jist of it," Yang said. "Yeah." she nodded her head a few times for confirmation.

"General." The chubby man, who was identified as Doctor Geppetto, spoke up then. "Did you say Ms. Rose? What is her full name?" he asked.

"Ruby Rose." Yang responded for the General. "My sisters full name is Ruby Rose. Why do you ask?"

The doctor grew a sad look but kept his variation of optimistic tone. "My daughter was good friends with Ms. Rose." he informed her.

"Your daughter?" Yang asked.

The man nodded. "Yes. Penny Polendina. Who, unfortunately, was one of the victims of the fall of Beacon." he lowered his line of sight towards the ground.

Both Yang and Weiss exchanged a surprised look. "I'm sorry." Yang said as she looked back to the doctor.

"As am I." he said, raising his head back up. "But, I am truly grateful for your sister being a part of Penny's life. Whenever I spoke to Penny, she seemed to have a new story to share about herself, Ruby and some of the other students of Beacon that she grew to know in the short time that she was there. Ruby was one of Penny's closest friends. Penny even told me that Ruby knew who she was and accepted her for it. Saying that she had a soul, not matter how she looked at it."

Yang nodded again. "That sounds like something my sister would say. She may have been a real turtle around the time of Signal and the beginning of Beacon, but when she broke out of her shell, she came to really care for a lot of people."

"And for that, I must thank you, as well."

"Me?" Yang asked.

"Certainly. There have been plenty of times where fellow scientists at the labs had thought of Penny as being an abomination. Saying that technology was too advanced for us and that we should scrap her while we were ahead. But I wouldn't have been able to bare to do that. Her AI program was the first stage of her. In between the time of her being created and her body being complete, she already saw me as a father. Some people would say we bonded so well to actually be that to the point where she started to call me Dad. She was very conscious of her not being human, but dreamed of one day being considered one. You must've helped Ruby by guiding her way through most of her life, as the role of a sister, so I feel that you must have had something to do with the way that she treated Penny. How she considered her a friend. "

"It is an elder siblings role to try and guide their younger sibling on the right path. Just as important as their own parents." Winter added in from the side. She gave Weiss a knowing grin as well.

"Weiss here was also a friend of Penny's. She was a part of our small yet expanding clique." Yang informed the daughter.

"Then I must thank you as well, Ms. Schnee." Dr. Geppetto looked to Weiss.

"You really don't have to, Doctor." Weiss said. "She was a friend of Ruby's and that was what lead to all of us becoming her friend as well. She just fit right in. Almost like a puzzle piece."

"Well, I'm glad she was able to meet everyone she could." The doctor mentioned.

"I think this now leads up to the point where I was about to have Ms. Xiao Long leave the residence." Mr. Schnee decided at that point that it was time to stop the heartfelt moment.

"Why would you do that?" Dr. Geppetto asked.

"She came into my home on the ground of taking Weiss with her to find her sister."

"And?" The Doctor asked.

"What do you mean "And"? I will not have Weiss go out and risk her life for a possible meaningless cause!"

"I wouldn't say meaningless, Schnee." General Ironwood stated. "If I had the power, I would go out and join the girl myself on the journey with the support of my army behind them. But, since the Vale incident, my powers have been limited. They choose to seek justice. What they say is correct. The other kingdoms are looking in the wrong place by placing the blame on Atlas."

"You're siding with them!?" Mr. Schnee shouted.

"Three thousand four hundred and twenty nine."

"What?" Mr. Schnee responded, completely confused.

"Three thousand four hundred and twenty nine. That is how many body bags in total were zipped after a week since what happened in Vale. And the last thing that the other kingdoms saw were Atlas androids firing upon innocent civilians of Vale. Mistal and Vacuo have cut off most communication with Atlas. Vale is no longer safe. This is not something that everyone will simply overlook to go on a wild goose chase. If someone has a lead, then they should follow it. And take everyone that they see fit to go with them."

"See fit? She has no arm, James!"

"I can fix that." Dr. Geppetto said nonchalantly.

The room went quiet.

Yang eyes widened. "What did you say?"

"Your arm. I can give you a new one." he confirmed. "It will be a fairly simple procedure."

"In which I cannot afford." Yang said, her eyes looking saddened.

"Who said anything about a cost? You have already paid the price enough. You tried to save as many lives as you could have on the day of the fall. Even going out of the way to try and save your own partner, only for you to lose your own arm in the attempt. And above all else, you and your sister, even you, Ms. Schnee, were all good friends with Penny. That, and I feel that it is the right thing to do, as Penny would do as well."

"Sir, I really appreciate the offer, but I can't accept." Yang said.

Suddenly, Yang felt a sharp pain in her side. She looked down to see Weiss' elbow jabbing deep into her.

"Dammit Yang! For once in your life would you stop being so selfish and accept the man's offer!" Weiss shouted.

"I highly recommend Dr. Geppetto, Ms. Xiao Long. He has helped me a few times in the past." General Ironwood added. "He knows his cybernetics."

"Helped?" Doctor Geppetto said. "I did a lot more than that, James." he turned to Yang. "Should have seen the man. Practically in the coffin on my operating table. Torn in half. I'll tell ya what, he ain't half the man he used to be."

"You're serious about the arm?" Yang asked.

"As serious as Professor Ozpin." Geppetto confirmed, not breaking eye contact with the blonde brawler.

Yang mulled over her choices.

"Alright I guess I got nothing to lose."

"And I'm going too." Weiss stated. She turned to her father. "Whether you like it or not. I'm eighteen now. I can make my own choices. And my choice is to fight alongside my team."

* * *

 _Three Weeks Later_

Yang had gone through the surgery and it was completely successful.

They had decided with the design of the arm to look completely normal. The strongest metal through the arm entirely and infused with special dust combinations to it's durability. The elbow of the arm was plated and colored a bright yellow to match her hair. A second Ember Celica was made to replace the old one lost in the fall... along with her arm. It would never be the same as the old beauty. But she would get used to it.

Yang called her father to let him know what had happened. She told him that they would be a while and to let CFVY know.

He didn't mind them being in the house for a while longer.

Apparently they had been a great help around the house.

Yang also called him more recently to let him know that the time was close.

She was only halfway through her physical therapy, but with her rapid recovery aura, the advanced medical treatments and dust treatments, she felt ready to go.

At the moment, she was using a punching bag that was set up in the PT room. As her rapid punches connected with the leather, she thought back to a conversation with Doctor Geppetto about her new arm.

 _"Hey, Doc. So will I be able to store up power for a punch before I strike?"_

 _"Not quite. If you had a full arm, then that would be definite. Overclocking the arm would be possible, but that in itself is very straining and taxing. The most you will be able to do is stop some strikes that you weren't able to before. But keep in mind that you won't be able to stop everything dead in it's tracks."_

 _"So just be mindful of the strikes, got it."_

Every time Yang punched the bag, she could feel the difference between each punch. Her right was significantly stronger than the left. The metal in the arm was a definite benefactor to that.

With one last punch, the door to the room opened and Doctor Geppetto walked into the room.

Yang stopped her strikes and turned to the doctor.

"Afternoon, Doc." she greeted.

"Hello, Yang." he had a scroll in his hands that Yang couldn't quite make out what he was looking at on it through the back of it.

"What's that for?" Yang asked.

"This is the final part of the arm."

"It's not done yet?" she asked.

"Not quite."

"Is it one of those overclock things that you were talking about. Wait, no, it can't be because you said that could only be effective with a full cybernetic arm." she reminded herself.

"Correct, it is not that. But what it is will help you greatly along the journey." he gestured towards an operating table where he would usually perform any form of repairs needed for the arm. "Come lay down for a minute."

"You got it." Yang said, having been through the process many times before for needed calibrations.

The two walked over to the table and Yang lied down on the large white surface.

Dr. Geppetto walked over to the console connected to the table and began to enter codes and commands into it.

Reaching for the table, he grabbed a long tube that had a sharp blade on the end. "Ready for the pinch." he said as plunged the blade into an opening in her metal arm. Yang felt as the blade connected to her artificial nerves that connected the arm to the rest of the body. She bit the pain back, having gotten used to it.

The doctor began pressing more commands into the console before he finally connected the scroll as well.

Seconds later, green lights began to illuminate Yang's arm and the room around them.

"What is that?" Yang asked, slightly nervous about what he was doing.

"Something special."

The final light was lit. A green circle in the center of her palm.

"Salutations, Yang."

* * *

 **AN: Well, here's chapter two guys.**

 **I know I'm venturing into some uncharted territory with "predicting" the future of the show.**

 **But I hope you will all like what I thought might happen... please like it :D**

 **This chapter was edited by the one and only MartunaMajor, go check out some of his work, he's a great guy.**

 **There is one chapter left after this one guys!**

 **HYPE**

 **Talk to you all later, and I'll see you all in the next chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3

The night air was cold.

It may have been in the middle of the summer, but in this area of the world, in the dead of night, it had become cold.

But Ruby had grown up on Patch. An island where in winter it got below zero degrees.

For the current night, a small cave was her and the rest of team JNPR's resting spot.

It was currently her shift to watch.

Although she had asked one person of the other three to stay up with her for just a tad longer.

"Are you sure about this, Ruby?" Ren asked.

"I'm sure. It's something that makes me at my weakest points. I need to become stronger, and need to know what to do in situations where it will be needed."

"How would you like to begin?" Ren asked.

"Teach me your style. How do you take people on hand to hand?"

"That is quite an advanced technique, I hope you know."

"I assumed that it would be. Which means that it would be a perfect place to start. Master the higher levels and everything else becomes easier."

"Is that how you got into a top ranked combat school two years early?"

"That and I kinda stopped a robbery."

"Right. Forgot about that."

"That's unlike you."

"I know. Weird."

"Has Nora affected you even more than usual?"

"I don't think that's possible anymore." he said as he glanced off to his childhood friend snoring while sprawled out across the cave floor."

"Whatever. Getting off track." She said.

"You're determined." he commented.

"Aren't we all?"

"You raise a good point. Now, let's start with your stance. Spread your legs into an L shape and until your knees are at a forty-five degree angle." Ren ordered the shorter girl.

Ruby obeyed the directions and shifted her legs, feet, and body weight to give herself a good balanced stance.

"Like this?" she asked.

"About that. Now this will be the beginning stance. Later, we'll get into standing upright."

Ruby nodded in confirmation.

"Alright. Now bring your arms up like this." Ren demonstrated bringing his right arm forward with his palm out, and tucked his left fist downward and pressed it lightly to his waist.

Ruby mirrored his arms positions and held the stance.

"Perfect, just like that."

"Natural?" Ruby asked. Thinking that she had beginner's luck.

"Not very. A stance is the easiest part of hand to hand combat. You will mostly be using this against a human. For someone who hasn't practiced with hand to hand their entire life, unlike me, I would highly advise against using these techniques against Grimm. I don't believe that it would end well if you try to do so."

Ruby laughed nervously.

"Don't be nervous. One thing about this technique is to not show fear or nervousness. That can and will be used against you." Ren stated.

"What _is_ this technique?" Ruby asked.

"It's a technique called Floating Palm. It was created in the mountains of southern Vacuo many many years ago."

"And guessing by the name and the stance that I have right now, it's a palm based fighting style." Ruby guessed.

"Precisely."

"Which means it is very fast as well as powerful."

"Right."

"And now that I'm in the stance you're going to be teaching me a little... hands on."

"It's one of the best ways to learn."

"Says who?"

"My master who taught me, and his master, and her master, and so on."

"I guess that'll work then."

Ren nodded and held the same stance as Ruby.

"Now. I want you to attack me."

"How?"

"Think about it. Do you see any openings that you can use to your advantage? Anything at all?"

Ruby examined her friend and tried to find a flaw in his defensive stance.

"Can I be honest?" Ruby asked.

"Of course."

"I can't see anything wrong."

"That is where you are wrong. Look at my feet." Ren advised.

Ruby glanced at his feet and saw that his forward facing foot's ankle was slightly bent to the left.

"Good. You noticed." Ren commented. "Now just how will you handle?"

Ruby approached Ren with caution.

As she went to strike Ren's ankle with her own, Ren instantly retaliated.

With Ruby's ankle still mid air and aiming straight for his own ankle, he forcefully placed his open palm against her left shoulder, knocking the girl off balance. With another forceful palm strike to Ruby's back to knock her down, as she was now in his line of defense. The girl was now falling straight for the ground, before she felt a hand grab the back of her hood and pull her back up to her feet.

"That wasn't good, was it?" Ruby asked.

"No, not really." Ren replied.

"Drat." Ruby said, looking a little sad.

"Don't worry about it. My first time performing the technique with my master went along the same way."

"True, but I'm not trying to be a master at this. Just trying to be able to handle myself in a one-on-one fight if I ever need to again, which with my luck, it will most likely happen."

"Yes, but it will-"

A sudden shift in the wind took his attention.

They had been practicing the technique at the mouth of the cave and feeling the cold wind and air against their skin.

"Did you feel that?" he asked.

"You mean how it feels like it just dropped another ten degrees? Yeah, I felt it."

"They're coming."

"They're getting kinda relentless lately. Must be because of me taking out that Beringel back at that town a few weeks back. They didn't seem to like losing that large piece so easily."

"It was something to be expected. I'll wake up Nora and Jaune, you keep watch."

"Got it."

 _'We can't keep running from them. We need to get to Mistral...'_

* * *

 _Flashback_

"Hey, Mom."

Ruby was now back at the top of the cliff on Patch, standing before her mother's grave.

The cold snow crunched beneath her feet as she shifted around nervously.

Team JN_R sat back, allowing the younger girl to have a moment.

"Well... I guess you might have seen... everything at the festival went... wrong."

No reply came from the stone plaque.

"And now, as I'm sure you know, I'm heading out to fix the wrong."

The wind blew through her hair gently.

"Like I said weeks back, like Mother like daughter. I'll come back someday. Whether this will be my last time standing here or not, we will have to wait and find out."

More silence.

"The silver eyes is I guess something that runs in the family. Uncle Qrow mentioned that you too had them. How they symbolize the life of a warrior. Hopefully I can live up to that title."

"I love you, Mom." Ruby said as she turned around to face her friends.

* * *

The inside of the bullhead was loud.

Cramped.

And humid.

Luckily they all had their own place to sit.

Save for Yatsuhashi who was happy to meditate on the floor, cross legged with his large sword sheathed on his back.

Velvet, Coco, and Fox sat on one side of the bullhead while Yang and Weiss sat on the other.

What was this, the seventh hour they had been in there?

They had entered the airspace of Mistral two hours ago. Now all they needed to do was try and predict with the pilot where they would be able to intercept and join them. Right now they were flying towards a village that was the most likely chance they hadn't been able to arrive at yet, one of Ruby's marked checkpoints on the map.

"How does it feel?"

Yang looked to Weiss.

"This question again?" Yang asked in return.

"I'm sorry," Weiss shot back. "I'm just curious is all. I don't meet many people with... new limbs." Weiss found it hard how to put her sentence together.

"Well, now it's more than just a new limb. It's also Penny."

"Right..." Weiss said. "Speaking of which, is she not talking?"

"No." Penny raised her own voice then. "I was simply reading."

"Reading?" Yang asked.

"Oh yes. Admittedly, being inside the arm is a bit of an upgrade as compared to my old body."

"Wait, seriously?" Coco asked. "I kinda find that hard to believe. You went from being able to control a body to being controlled by someone else."

"Well yes, while I did have my own body, I had more freedom of movement. But as I noticed when I did have a body, I was needed for a lot more tasks. Which cut into one of my favorite pastimes, which was reading."

"But can't you scan any piece of text like really quick?" Yang asked.

"I can, but it doesn't mean I have to do it really quick." Penny replied.

"That's fair." Weiss commented.

"I also just discovered that I could do this while reading through a few files earlier. Yang, hold out your palm." Penny ordered.

Yang then reached her arm outward and did as Penny instructed.

The green light in the center of her palm began to grow brightly. Suddenly, the entire cabin of the Bullhead was engrossed in the green light before quickly dissipating.

Everyone had shielded their eyes because of the green glow, save for Fox, but when it died down, everyone refocused on the robotic limb.

Standing there on the palm of Yang's hand was a tiny holographic Penny.

She wasn't wearing her old combat attire though. She looked to be wearing a slick pilot suit that had lines running down the sides. Everything consisting of Holo-Penny was colored in multiple shades of green, even her face and hair.

"That is… amazing." Velvet said. "It uses the same magic as my weapon." she said as she placed her hand on the magical box at her hip.

"Not magic," Penny said. "This is all technology. Although I cannot move off of the light of Yang's arm or else I will simply dissipate. Like so." Penny then stepped off the green light and Penny shimmered into nothing.

"But, I'm still here." Penny's once again disembodied voice said. "I've just returned back inside Yang's arm, essentially."

"Technology sure has come a far way." Coco said.

"Far is a bit of an understatement." Yang said.

"Hey!" The pilot called from the front. "Someone might want to come take a look at this!"

Yang stood up from her seat and walked up to the cockpit doorway. Weiss was just behind her, trying to get a view over her shoulder.

Yang looked out the window and saw the night sky.

"What am I supposed to be looking at?" Yang asked.

The bullhead pilot tilted the aircraft to the left at a small angle for them to get a decent view of the ground ahead of them.

Something on the ground was exploding in short bursts.

Short, _pink_ bursts.

"Those are Nora's grenades!" Yang shouted.

"One of the four?" The pilot asked.

"Yeah. Get us over their combat area." She ordered.

"There are Nevermore's in the sky so this is going to be hot. I won't be able to land this down there. If they're using that much munitions, there is bound to be dozens upon hundreds of Grimm."

Weiss pushed past Yang and looked out the window herself. She focused her eyes and spotted the rapid gunfire.

 _'Ren...'_ she said to herself.

One small pop of a flash was all she needed to recognize a familiar high caliber scythe.

"They're all down there. I'm only assuming all of them though. With Jaune not having a ranged attack it makes it hard to-"

Suddenly, a large blaze of light expanded over a small area. A square of space was covered facing upwards. Weiss spotted Nevermore feathers bouncing off of the shield of light.

"What... was that?"

"I think that might have been our sign that Jaune is down there as well."

"That was not Jaune. How could _he_ do that?" Weiss asked, wanting to completely deny the fact that that attack was performed by the scraggly bumbling blonde.

"If it is him, then it means that he's been practicing. A lot. And that is something that we're going to need."

"I guess you're right." Weiss said.

Yang turned around to the back of the bullhead and got the attention of the others.

"Alright guys. Showtime."

* * *

Ruby ran forward with Crescent Rose held behind her back. As she approached a beowolf, she sliced it in two with one quick strike. The two halves flew into the air in separate directions. Jumping up, Ruby kicked both halves with her strikes infused with her aura. The two halves soared through the air to knock down two other beowolves.

Quickly transforming Crescent Rose into its rifle form, Ruby shot down two griffons that were diving right for her.

Ducking down, she dogged the paw of a giant Ursa.

Using her semblance, she shot around to the back of the Ursa and extended her scythe so that the blade was straight. Pulling the trigger, the blade flew around the legs of the beast, cutting it down at the trunks.

 _'Timber!_ ' she said to herself.

Nora knocked a beowolf to the side with her hammer and brought it back down atop another, replacing it's skull and turning it's spine to dust.

Shifting her hammer back into grenade launcher form, she fired three shells into a group of charging borbatusks. Their now mutilated and disheveled corpses flew through the air and were completely dissolved into ash and shadows before they hit the ground.

"Ruby!" she shouted. "I need a lightning dust crystal!"

Ruby twirled her blade downward flying past Nora and slicing another beowolf in half.

Mid spin, Ruby reached into a pocket and pulled a decently sized orange crystal.

"Coming over!" she tossed the red haired girl the crystal and vanished into a flurry of rose petals, suddenly on the backside of three beowolves.

Catching the orange crystal, Nora opened the tubes of her grenade launcher and placed the crystal in one of the tubes.

Approaching them was a group of almost twenty beowolves. They needed to thin out the herd.

And Nora was always the person who was the expert in that field.

Closing the tubes and shifting Magnhild back into it's hammer form, she channeled her aura and semblance for a powerful attack.

"Incoming!" Jaune shouted across the battlefield, letting Ruby and Ren know exactly what Nora was planning.

Feeling sparks of electricity spark off her, she lifted her hammer into the air, preparing to swing the devastating weapon.

The beowolves approached her without any caution as to what might happen to them. The only thing in their eyes was pure blood lust. What they couldn't tell was that Nora's sky blue eyes held the same stare.

Grinning wildly, she brought the hammer down upon the ground before her.

As the head made contact, she pulled the trigger on the shaft. Using her semblance to amplify the power of the lightning dust crystal.

The ground shook and it sounded like a dust-jet just broke the sound barrier while sitting in place.

Shock waves pulsed from the hammer.

Suddenly, the ground began to crack and split apart. Dirt and rock flew into the air.

Bolts of lightning flew into the sky and arced through the fissures made in the forest floor.

Beowolves fell into the cracks and exploded into shadows as the high amounts of lightning melted the insides of their bodies and burned them to a crisp.

The others had heavy amounts of rock crushing their soft bodies.

Jumping over the fissures, Ren bound over to a small group that had somehow escaped Nora's devastation.

Leaping onto the back of one beowolf, Ren fired a burst of dust bullets into the back of it's head. Black blood spewed from the exit wound and Ren jumped onto the ground.

The four surviving beowolves turned towards him, their claws at the ready and fangs bared menacingly.

Ren stood there, unnerved, unfazed by the attempts to scare him away and instill fear.

Then he made his move. Charging at the one directly in front of him, Ren kept his dual dagger pistols by his sides.

The one beowolf charged right back at him. Just as he expected it to. A beowolf never backs down from a challenge.

Ren dove down to the ground into a slide, going under the strike of the monster. Hooking his blades on the lower legs of the beowolf, Ren sliced right through like a stick of butter.

The beowolf fell to the ground and Ren spun up and around, firing a single bullet into the back of the head of that beowolf as well.

The other three stared at Ren with a newly learned caution. Not wanting to waste time with them, Ren sprayed StormFlower at the three. Each one dropped fast and dissolved into ash just like the rest.

Jaune had been able to hold his own, for the most part.

He had become accustomed to fighting everyday for the past few months. And it was just getting harder and harder, yet easier and easier. Easier for the fact that he was getting better with his sword play, even his aura and semblance became more and more easily controlled. But the hard part of all of this was the fact that the more they went on, the more that problems seemed to get in their way.

Jaune shield checked an Ursa minor to the ground. The large beast landed flat on it's back and tried to roll back over. Jaune quickly jumped onto the bears stomach and sliced right through it's neck. The Ursa let out one last roar before it's voice faded into nothing, just like it's body.

"Jaune!" Ruby shouted. "Above!"

Directing his attention to the sky above him, Jaune spotted three Nevermores in a V formation. Swinging their wings back, they launched a flurry of supersonic feathers at the group of four students.

Raising his shield above him, the other three crowded around him to be shielded as well, not wanting to be impaled by the feathers.

Jaune focused his aura and semblance to his shield and let it out in a burst of energy. The blinding golden light illuminated the sky around them. The feathers either bounced off the shield of light or were burn to ash before they made contact. Under the shield though, the temperature remained the same. The other three made sure that no Grimm on the ground got close to Jaune, as this defense mechanism left him vulnerable and at times, very tired. This was a trick that he and Pyrrha managed to come across a month before the tournament. But whenever he used it then, it was barely enough to cover even his own body, or just a few inches over his actual shield. Now though, he had managed to manifest the vast amount of energy needed to perform the move perfectly without a hitch.

When the feathers stopped flying towards them, Jaune recalled the aura and energy back to his body. Still looking to the air, he could see the Nevermores circling around to come in for another attack.

But Jaune noticed one other thing that to him seemed out of the ordinary for a while now.

"Guys... Is that a bullhead?"

* * *

The side door opened and the wind began to billow in everyone's faces.

"What's the plan of attack?" Weiss asked.

Yang looked down at the ground below them and saw that there was still Nevermore's circling above. That was obviously going to be a problem.

She could see her sister and friends on the ground below. They were beginning to look up at their bullhead in wonder.

More and more Grimm were beginning to converge on their position.

They needed to clear out the area fast.

"Headfirst..." Yang suggested.

"What!?" Weiss asked. "Are you crazy?"

Yang looked to Weiss. "At times, yeah!" Yang shouted over to the pilot. "Thanks for the ride! We'll handle it from here!"

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Actually." Coco interjected. "When those Nevermore get taken care of, can you bring me in for some close air support?" she asked the pilot.

"Sounds like a plan!" he replied.

"Alright." Coco said. "Weiss, use your glyphs to get the others to the floor safely. That seems like the best course of action."

"I guess you're right." Weiss swiped her hand down and everyone's ankles and bottoms of their feet were suddenly covered in white glyphs. "These should do the trick."

Yang was still looking out the side of the bullhead doors, timing it just right.

"Yang, what are you planning?" Weiss asked.

"What?" Yang replied.

"You have that "I'm-planning-something-that-will-look-awesome" look. But in reality, the thing that your planning is completely stupid and dangerous."

"Don't overreact, Princess."

"Don't overreact to what!?" Weiss asked.

"This." And Yang jumped out of the bullhead.

Weiss looked out the door and saw her flight path was right on an intercept course with the lead Nevermore.

"YOU EXPECT ME NOT TO OVERREACT TO THAT!?" Weiss shouted out the door at her blonde teammate that was now plummeting towards the ground.

"Guess that's our cue as well." Velvet said, jumping out of the aircraft but taking heed by avoiding the Nevermores.

"Yatsu, Fox, Weiss. You guys need to get down there as well. Give them the support and clear the area." Coco ordered her two teammates.

The two semi-silent boys nodded and jumped out the side of the aircraft after the other two.

"What are you going to do?" Weiss asked.

Coco smirked at Weiss. "Air support." She simply stated.

"That will not be happening until those griffons and nevermores are out of the area!" The pilot shouted.

Coco sighed. "Take those things out before I get too bored."

Weiss nodded. "You got it." She unsheathed Myrtenaster, and jumped out of the Bullhead.

* * *

The wind rushed through Yang's hair.

She rotated between glancing at the ground below her to the nevermore that she was on a collision course with.

 _'Ten seconds until impact.'_ Penny stated.

 _'You knew what I was going for?'_ Yang asked.

 _'It was kinda obvious.'_

 _'Fair enough.'_ Yang said as she released her arm back ready for the punch. "Here we go!"

The nevermore was beginning to turn around for another run at the other on the ground.

 _'Gotta hit it now.'_ Yang said mentally.

Smashing down onto the nevermore, Yang felt it suddenly begin to fall to the ground from the impact.

Running up to the head of the nevermore, the known weak point, she unlocked both Ember Celica's on her wrists, the separate pieces sliding into place and locking up into combat mode. The shells ready to be fired.

Grabbing onto one of the stronger feathers, Yang used her other arm to fire a single shell into the right eye of the Nevermore.

The terrifying bird let out a great screech of pain and began to flail about, trying to get the huntress of itself.

Jumping over the head, mid air, Yang fired both of her gauntlets at the other eye, completely blinding the large bird.

Letting herself fall, Yang continued her descent to the ground. Looking over at the other Nevermores, she saw Velvet jumping down from one of them and Yatsuhashi falling from the other, it's head completely severed. That seemed to be a thing that happened a lot when they were around, Nevermore were suddenly decapitated instantly.

She saw the Bullhead begin to descend even further than it had been, obviously trying to avoid the griffins that still flew in the air.

 _'As long as the Nevermore's are dealt with, that'll be enough and we can pick off the giffins from the ground.'_ she said as she angled her body straight down toward the ground.

The glyphs on Yang's feet began to react, thankfully they hadn't faded when she landed on the nevermore. Turning her body just before the ground, the glyphs activated and completely cushioned her fall. She felt no effect from the high velocity impact with the ground. Although the dirt around her flew into the air, creating a small cloud of dust around her.

Standing there with her guard up, she waited for any movement to be heard.

Without any warning, a beowolf lunged through the dust.

Only to be met face-to-fist with Yang's… well… fist.

As the beowolf's face impacted the gauntlet, a shotgun shell tore through it's skull and instantly dissolved into shadows.

"No warning there, Penny?" Yang asked.

"Sorry, the dust affected my sensors. I was partially blind."

"Guess we'll just have to get out of the dust then."

Jumping into the air and launching both of her fists back, Yang flew through the air and out of the smoke.

Looking down, she saw a dozen beowolves turn their heads upwards at the blonde brawler. To keep her in the air, she fired down at them. The explosive rounds blew apart every single one of them.

Landing on the ground once more, feet first, she found herself in a small opening amongst the madness.

"Yang!" A voice called. Yang turned to see her fellow blonde sprinting at her full speed.

"Jaune?" she asked.

"Get out of the way!" he shouted.

"Yang! Dodge!" Penny shouted at her.

Turning around, Yang saw an Ursa Major charging right at her. Obviously not liking all the damage that she had done to it's friends.

Jumping out of the way, she expected Jaune to do the same, but he was on a collision course faster than her with the nevermore.

Before she could yell at him to get out of the way, his shield made contact with the hard bone plating of the Ursa Major's head.

And it stopped as if it hit a wall.

"Jaune?"

"That's the name!" he said as he struggled to hold the ursa back. "Can you stopped being a little shocked and blow this thing's brains out?"

"Uh-yeah." Yang said as she quickly jogged over to the side of the ursa and blew four shotgun shells into the side of the it's skull before she finally cracked through the armor. "One more!" and she fired off one more shell and listened as the inside of the head mushed and burned from the vast amount of heat generated from the explosion of the shell.

When the Ursa finally stopped resisting, it was as if someone had just let go of the other end of the rope that Jaune was holding onto and he spilled down to the ground, but quickly recovered himself, standing back up on his feet.

"You've grown, vomit boy." Yang commented.

"I mean, maybe. It's been only a little over a year since we've seen each other."

He said.

"Where's Ruby?" she asked.

"Cutting right to it, huh? Ok. She's over there?" Jaune said as he pointed off into the distance.

Barely squinting, Yang was able to make out a sea of rose petals engulfing legions of grimm.

"Wow." was all she could say.

"Yeah, your sister ain't so little anymore." he said.

"That could be taken many ways, you know that, right, Jaune." Yang said slightly threateningly.

"You know what I mean. Come on, if you want to get to her, we're going to have to fight our way to her. I saw the others you came with landing a little closer to her, along with Nora and Ren."

"So they sent you to get me?"

"I more along the lines of volunteered myself."

"Well, let's get going."

* * *

Yang and Jaune blasted, hacked, bashed, and slashed their way across the battlefield.

At times, Yang would look around, trying to find any other of their friends amidst the chaos. The easiest one to spot was always Coco, who was in the bullhead firing a hellish amount of bullets on the helpless Grimm below.

She could see pink explosions on the other side of the field and a sudden pillar of ice encasing several ursai and beowolves in place from time to time.

So she knew that at least most of them were still powering through.

"Yang!" Jaune called. "Griffon, incoming!"

"Boost me!" she called as she began to sprint for the blonde haired boy.

Jaune sliced a beowulf down and quickly crouched, his shield raised in the air. Yang knew that he and Pyrrha had practiced this move dozens of times, so he was well acquainted with what he needed to do.

Jumping up, Yang landed on top of his shield and locked the new shells into their respective chambers.

"Here we go!" Jaune shouted below her.

Yang's body suddenly felt weightless as she was launched into the air.

Firing the shells from her gauntlets, she gained a greater burst of speed.

Looking forward, she spotted the griffon that Jaune had called out. And she had flown right into it's flight path.

Reeling her right arm back, she delivered one of the hardest punches she had ever thrown.

Before the shotgun blast went off, she could tell that the griffon died.

She had brought her fist directly down on top of the head of the griffon. The bone shattered into dozens of pieces and spread throughout the inside of it's head.

The moment that the shotgun blast went off, Yang found herself splattered with dark red blood that quickly vanished into shadows, but she still felt as if she had the red smile covering half of her torso.

The head of the griffon had imploded, no longer holding any real sense of shape and not resembling the head that it used to be.

Yang crashed back onto the ground by landing on top of a beowolf, taking it out with one quick blast from Ember Celica.

It was then that she looked around and noticed something.

"The Grimm are… retreating?" she wondered aloud.

It was something that was almost unheard of and rarely seen, but the Grimm were beginning to scatter and completely flee from the huntsman and huntresses that were seemingly unstoppable.

She wanted to chase after some of them, but she knew that was stupid and reckless without someone having to shout it at her, that someone most likely being Weiss or Ruby.

"YANG!" she heard a familiar cry from behind her.

Before she could turn around fully, she was tackled to the ground by a red blur.

"You're here! You're here! You're here!" Ruby shouted over and over, giving her sister a hug that she had long awaited for.

"Yeah, I'm here. Finally forced myself to get off my ass and stop moping about."

As she was saying this, the bullhead landed and Coco hopped off.

"'Myself'?" Coco asked. "I had to come to your home and almost slap the hell out of you to get you to even think about finding your sister. By the way, hey Ruby."

"Coco? What are you doing here?" Ruby asked as she got off of her sister and stood back up.

"Joining you guys." she simply stated.

"I can see that, but why?"

"Wanting to make the world right and hopefully bring the people who caused the fall to justice."

"That sounded a little out of character for you." Ruby commented.

"I can be serious sometimes. When someone pisses me off to an extent, that is when the scary determined side of me comes out."

"Well, I'm glad we can now have that extra determination." Ruby said.

"RUBY ROSE!"

"Uh-oh." Ruby said, knowing exactly what was about to happen. She was about to get the largest scolding from Weiss she had ever gotten.

Ruby turned around to face her partner who was stomping over towards her.

Obviously, Weiss hadn't been pleased with their reunion being thrown into the middle of a warzone.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was about you!?"

Or it could have been about that as well.

"Ummm…" Was the caped girl's only response.

"How can you just go off with the rest of JNPR on a course of vendetta?"

"Weiss this is more than ju-"

"And not take me with you?"

"...Wait, what?"

"Why not take me with you? You're not the only one who was upset about the loss of Beacon."

"I know you weren't the only one. But what was I supposed to do? Go up to Atlas?"  
"Yang didn't seem to have any trouble with it." Weiss mentioned.

Ruby sighed. "I had no idea where your home was, Weiss. I wouldn't know where to go and we needed to set out before the trail went cold."  
"It's been months Ruby, don't you think that the trail would have gone cold a long time ago?"

"I'm hoping that you're wrong, and that's why we're still going."

"Well at least your relentless determination has yet to change." Weiss commented.

"It's only been a few months, do you think I changed that much?"

"Few months?" Weiss almost shouted. "Ruby, it's been almost a year."  
"Well… fair point."

"And to answer your question, yes, I kinda did think that you changed a lot in the time."

Ruby smiled and quickly pulled Weiss into a hug as well. The ivory haired girl looked like she was about to resist, but reluctantly accepted the embrace from her partner.

After the others went on and greeted each other, they all stood there for a moment.

"So, what now?" Yang asked.

"Tell me we're not going to be going on the bullhead?" Jaune asked holding his stomach. "I know it will get us there quicker, but…"

As he said this, the engines of the bullhead fired up and the hover jet took off into the night sky.

The four members of RNJR looked on in longing for the bullhead to return to them.

"Sorry, it was kinda part of the deal. He would only take us to you guys. Now he's got to head back to Atlas." Yang mentioned.

Ruby suddenly looked deflated. "Oh well, more walking."

"Eh." Nora said. "We're used to it by now."

"Yeah I know."

"Don't lose your backbone now, little sis." Yang said, placing her right hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"I'm not, it's just…" Ruby stopped her sentence completely.

"Yang… where did you get that arm?"

 _'She's only just noticing!?'_ Yang shouted in her mind.

"She got it in Atlas." said Penny.

Ruby's eyes widened and she began to look all over the place, looking for the disembodied voice of her friend.

"Whoever did that, stop it, right now." Ruby said, her voice being the most serious than she had ever been. Admittedly, the tone in her voice kinda scarred Yang.

"What do you mean, Ruby?" Penny asked again.

"Really," Ruby said with the same tone of voice, "not funny."

"Ruby." Yang said, with a small grin on her face. She opened her palm, arm outstretched.

The green light glowed once more and the figure of Penny appeared in Yang's palm.

"Salutations, Ruby."

Ruby looked like she was about to drop Crescent Rose.

Her eyes wide with shock.

"How… What… Why…" Ruby couldn't form a coherent sentence. So many questions were flowing through her mind. She felt so confused. She looked to the rest of RNJR for help but they looked just as surprised.

"There were… a few things that happened in Atlas." Yang said, scratching the back of her head.

"You will be explaining all of it." Ruby ordered. She looked at the holographic Penny. "Both of you."

"Sounds like a perfect time to catch up." Penny said.

"Yeah. And Yang can tell us all about her super cool new arm!" Nora said with her usual endless supply of positivity.

"Yes she will." Ruby said, holstering Crescent Rose. As she did, she looked off to the horizon and saw the sun beginning to rise.

"Looks like you and Ren didn't get any sleep." Jaune mentioned.

"That's fine, I can keep going for-" mid sentence, Ruby let out a great yawn, her voice going higher than usual. "Excuse me."

"Nice try sounding tough, sis." Yang commented.

"So, what's next?" Velvet asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Coco replied. "Haven."

Ruby nodded. "Haven. We're close, and maybe we'll get there faster now that we have a larger group."

"Ten people can attract a lot of attention." Ren said.

"Well. We can make it work." Jaune said.

"Let's get moving." Ruby said as she waved everyone towards the east.

The group began to follow her, but Yang couldn't help but look back in the direction that she knew Vale was in.

 _'Let's hope that the group will soon turn to eleven.'_ she thought to herself, quickly catching up to the group.

* * *

Back at the abandoned warehouse district in Vale.

"So you got the letter and decided not to go?" Sun asked.

"And face them after I abandoned them? After I ran from all of my problems again? When I practically left my partner unconscious without her knowing what had even happened? I couldn't bare to see the betrayal in their eyes. The betrayal in her eyes."

"So you're running from the problem that was caused by running from your problems." Sun stated.

"Shut up, Sun." Blake replied.

Sun shook his head and raised his arms in surrender. "Alright, I get it. I won't pry. But do you really think that this is the best decision?"

"We need to show the people once and for all that not all faunus are bad. Not all of them support the White Fang of today."

"And this is the best way that you could think of doing it? Where did you even find this thing? And it's in a good condition too."

"I have contacts. Contacts that will even support our cause."

"Well, let's get to work on said cause."

Sun walked away from the spot where they were standing.

Blake stood there for a few moments longer, staring at the object that Sun had commented on.

Then she looked at the paper in her hands.

A message from Professor Qrow. A request from him to join with Ruby and the others.

She couldn't.

She wanted to, but she couldn't.

There was some things that she needed to handle.

One was the White Fang.

The second was Adam.

She shoved the slightly crumpled letter into one of her pockets, then turned away from the object.

An old White Fang flag that was hung against the wall.

The blue background and the peaceful white wolf head.

The symbol of peace between the humans and the faunus.

From here on out, things would change.

* * *

 **And that is it.**

 **My first complete tag on this site.**

 **I gave a little bit of an open ending. Mostly to get everyone's minds turning on the possibility of what Blake could be doing in the show.**

 **And now, for a bit of credits to the people who supported this story along the way.**

 **28GarnetAquarius**

 **Amira25**

 **Dragon and Sword Master**

 **Gakuen**

 **Jiore**

 **KeenEyedWinter**

 **KnightSpark**

 **Lamenaza**

 **MartunaMajor (Thanks for all the editing jobs as well!)**

 **Natural Born Flamer**

 **NobleMETA**

 **PURVEYOR26**

 **Shadow Nightblade**

 **SilentRage5**

 **Sonicthehedgewolf**

 **Titan Liger**

 **Bri333865**

 **Insertacleverpennamehere**

 **Jax-was-here**

 **As well as everyone else who had read and enjoyed the story and those who favorite it after this upload!**

 **I hope you all enjoyed!**

 **And I'll see you all, very soon.**

 **-angelsixtwofive**


End file.
